Gun sales stay red hot, third best January ever

In this Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017 photo, manager of Bob Moates Sports Shop, David Hancock, poses with a firearm in the shop in Richmond, Va. Hancock says he is not expecting any major changes in the states gun laws as a result of the election of many Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Sales of guns have picked up where they left off last year — red hot.

Following the second best-ever year for gun sales, when some 25 million were traded, January started fast too.

The FBI recorded 2,030,530 background checks in January, just off the 2,043,284 in January 2016.

Despite predictions that the election of President Trump would slow sales, they have continued at a fast pace due to safety concerns and the entry of women and minorities into the market.

“Historically, January is sluggish, but we were up over 10 percent from last January, so our outlook for the year is bright,” said our go-to expert Justin Anderson, director of marketing for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, N.C., one of the nation’s biggest.

“While sales nosedived last February as the result of the presidential election, we don’t expect the same drop off this year. We are continuing to see new customers buying guns and we expect more new shooters to become customers this year,” he added

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com